The Search for Coaching Data

Coaches need to have ready answers to questions about coaching. And not just subjective thoughts from our own experience, but actual data. Coaching is still considered new, and even a novelty in some cases, and data is highly valued in professional settings. Data that answers, “Why coaching?” and reassures someone that coaching really does work.

I’ve recently come across two resources that will be really helpful for me as a coach and a trainer. They were recommended by another coach who’d been searching for concrete proof that coaching works. Her first example was from Forbes, where coaching was named as one of the top skills leaders needed to be successful leaders in 2030, noting that “the best coaches and leaders develop their people to be more successful than them.” The article cites the book The Future Leader, for which author Jacob Morgan interviewed over 140 of the world’s top CEOs and surveyed nearly 14,000 people.

The second resource was Building Strong Coaching Cultures for the Future, a report which was the result of a research partnership between the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the Human Capital Institute (HCI). They found that compared to companies which do not employ a coaching culture, companies with a strong coaching culture are three times more likely to be classified as high performing.

We’ll talk more about demonstrating your worth in the next post, but let’s just touch briefly on how that is different from justifying your work. Justification comes from a place of needing to prove something, while demonstrating your worth comes from a deep inherent belief in your own value and the value of what you offer.

These may look very similar, but they feel quite different. Consider what it’s like when someone demands you justify yourself and your entire profession, versus how it feels to continually seek and receive feedback that demonstrates your worth.

What resources have you come across? Have you read any impressive articles about the efficacy of coaching, or published your own data? Please share so we can help the coaching community spread the word about the power of coaching.